What is Business Intelligence?

A quick internet search will explain that business intelligence or “BI” is the ability to leverage the software, services, and internal processes necessary to transform data into actionable insight that drives both strategic and tactical decisions.

At a conceptual level, this definition is certainly accurate, but one may be left wondering, what exactly are the unique characteristics and capabilities an intelligent business has when compared to its not-so-intelligent competition?

Here are some of the common characteristics that highly data-driven organizations share:

• A broad view of performance across the entire business.
• Deep insight into each discrete area of operation.
• The ability to track and measure key performance indicators (KPI) against established budgets, goals and previous results.
• An accurate understanding of the root-cause behind measured results.
• The power to run hypothetical what-if scenarios against a multitude of business variables.
• The capacity to leverage historical data to predict future outcomes.
• The means to collaborate with colleagues on near-real-time analytics, and connect the dots across departments, divisions, business units, etc.
• The ability to trigger digital alerts based on certain activities and/or measurement thresholds that have been reached.
• The flexibility to securely access all of these capabilities from their desktops, tablets, smartphones, and web browsers.

Here at PIVOTL, we’re on a mission to bring the financial benefits and competitive advantage of enterprise-level analytics to small and midsize organizations across the Southland. If you would like assistance planning, developing, and implementing Microsoft Power BI at your company or non-profit, we encourage you to reach out for a free, no-pressure consultation.